Climate change is more than an environmental issue. It is a human rights and economic justice issue. Why? Because though climate change impacts all of us, different nations, and different communities within nations, experience the effects of climate change in varying ways, some worse than others.

This point was clearly made at last month's U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen, where it quickly became evident that the rich and powerful nations — particularly the U.S. and members of the European Union— dictate the debate at the expense of poorer countries. That needs to change.

I was part of the only African-American delegation at the conference as a member of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' Commission to Engage African Americans on Climate Change. We were there because African Americans have a dog in this fight. We produce less greenhouse gas emissions (about 20% less than other Americans, according to a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation study), but we bear a greater burden in terms of pollution and climate change.

 

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